Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock: Equita Financial Network Inc. Grows Stake

Key Points

• Equita Financial Network increased its Alphabet stake by 284% in the third quarter, ending with 5,653 shares valued at approximately $1.93 million. Other major institutions, including BlackRock and State Street, also expanded their positions.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $119.8 billion in revenue—up 24.2% year over year—and earnings per share of $9.11, well above the $2.87 consensus estimate.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 40 analysts rate the stock Strong Buy or Buy, versus four Holds, with an average price target of $421.85. However, insiders sold roughly 339,182 shares worth $6.74 million over the past three months.

Equita Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 284.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,653 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $130,704,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,458,980,000 after buying an additional 5,208,690 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Alphabet by 22.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 21,922,379 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,288,654,000 after buying an additional 4,083,758 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,313,729 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,117,460,000 after buying an additional 913,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,209,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,080,616,000 after buying an additional 3,432,287 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $330.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $250.45 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $340.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $350.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 339,182 shares of company stock worth $6,740,093 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. China Renaissance reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $485.00 to $445.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective (up from $475.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $421.85.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reached an agreement to make OpenAI’s latest models and Codex coding agent available through Google Cloud. The deal could increase cloud demand, improve infrastructure utilization and strengthen Google’s position in enterprise AI. OpenAI to sell its top models on Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to accelerating Google Cloud growth, rising demand for Alphabet’s custom AI chips and resilient Search revenue as potential catalysts for the upcoming earnings report. Bank of America expects a modest third-quarter beat, while several analysts maintain bullish long-term targets. Alphabet set for earnings beat
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded its autonomous ride-hailing service to Las Vegas airport and plans further international and fleet expansion, providing Alphabet with a potential long-term growth avenue beyond advertising and cloud. Waymo starts offering rides at the Las Vegas airport

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent organization of Google. Founded in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, online services, communications, artificial intelligence, and other emerging areas.

Google's principal products and services include its internet search engine, digital advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Workspace. The company also provides cloud computing, data storage, cybersecurity, productivity, and artificial intelligence services through Google Cloud.

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